Is there any thread that connects JW's together

by sleepy 18 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  sleepy

  Is there any common thread that connects JW's together because as far I can see JW's come from all types of families, backgrounds , races and such.

  In my congregation there were many types of people,although there were quite a few dpressives and others with mild mental diseases.But there is nothing I find in common through Jehovahs witnesses except their belief in that religion.There must be some common personnality types in the organistation, maybe a few dominant reoccouring ones, but I would need a bigger picture to see that I suppose.

  What are your thoughts?
• 

  joelbear

  I don't even think you can list belief as a commonality. The level of belief and the specific application of beliefs and doctrines varied quite a bit from individual to individual.

  I think JW's are simply a random bag of people who happened to be Jehovah's Witnesses for a time period of their lives.

  Joel
• 

  jgnat

  My observations

  • Lost souls looking for an easy fix (Finally, somebody with all the answers! I can stop searching.)
  • Next-generation kids (Never knew anything different. Proud of the tradition.)
  • Simple folk with rudimentary education. (There is dignity in the lifestyle. For once in their life, they start getting all the answers right on the test.)
  • Control freaks (Obey me, woman!)
  • Passives (Finally, somebody that will tell me what to do.)
  • Unstable jerks who MUST have all the answers (I've got the TROOF mwhahahahahaha.)
  • Sincere searchers with fuzzy ideas about spirituality (Easily sucked in, quickly vomited out)

  There are more, but that is what I can come up with off the top of my head.
• 

  OUTLAW

  One common thread? The only one I have seen is,they all need someone to tell them what to do.Without that,they are all lost,everyone of them...OUTLAW
• 

  NameWithheld

  Mental illness.
• 

  RubaDub

  I think the next-generation kid thing is by far the largest, at least in western countries. When you look at who is getting baptized at your next assembly, I would say at least half are teenagers.
• 

  blacksheep

  I think they advertise their common thread themselves. They are looking for those who are "sighing and crying" (from memory, may not be exact!!) over this system of things. In other words, unhappy people who lack the ability or desire to either accept or try to improve their lives and/or the world in general. So the typical profile would be a quite unflattering IMO mix of passive people who feel they have no control over their lives, so must look to an outside force (Jehovah, but since he's really not visible, the WTS) to solve all their problems. They believe there is a single truth, a panacea that will make the world whole, perfect.

  Related to this is their inability to accept that we live in an "imperfect" world. They don't deal well with ambiguity. Life is black/white. IMO, they also have a very unusually inflated view of their particular role in life: they are a unique people living during momentous times, where THEY will usher in a new world; they have a special purpose (lol, unlike that in "The Jerk", Again, they don't seem to be able to accept that they may just be one generation in a long, long line of many humans who are born, live, and die.
• 

  Buster

  This is an excellent question. I think the JWs are composed primarily of a few types (lets ignore those in transition in or out of the org):

  1. Those that are looking for leadership. They want to abdicate their own personal responsibility to determine what is right and wrong. They can't wait to find someone, or some group, to tell them how they should live their lives. But they do need that this new authority give them some sense that they have a relationship with God.

  2. Those looking to be leaders. They are the big fish looking for a small pond. Their current goal in life is to tell others how to live their life. These people may be multifaceted, in that they are also looking for direction from higher authorities - victimizer as a victim, as it were.

  3. Periphery. These are the most interesting. For some strange reason, they get to hang back, not taking direction as much as others are required. But no one seems to give them any crap about it. I am reluctant to say that they have strong personalities - they are dubbies after all. But they are subject to periodic 'marking' and rejection - yet they stay. I never understood these.

  Is there a common thread?
• 

  Shakita

  BLIND AND UNQUESTIONING FAITH IN THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

  Mrs. Shakita
• 

  RubaDub

  We have the unique ability to appear like we are walking at normal speed from door to door and yet barely getting anywhere. We knock on 5 or 6 doors in a block, find no one at home, and yet take an hour doing it.

  In some ways the motion is similar to the Moon Walk thing that Michael Jackson did.